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Category Archives: Fantasy

Star Rating

4 stars

I read this book twice. Once before it was anywhere near being published and again as just before it was published. For full disclosure, I am noted in this book’s acknowledgments. An author in a writing group gave Michael Darling my email. I’d received and read the first copy long before I ever met the author. So I would consider this review unbiased.

This book earned the four stars. It is a pretty good debut novel. Both times I struggled with the beginning. The cliche of starting in the office of a private eye didn’t escape me. But how many debut novels don’t have a less than ideal beginning. Even J. K. Rowling’s first chapter from Uncle Vernon’s point of view is criticized heavily. Needless to say, I forgive rough beginnings for debut authors.

Why did it come up short of 5 stars? Well, both times I struggled with the beginning. The cliche of starting in the office of a private eye didn’t escape me. But how many debut novels don’t have a less than ideal beginning. Even J. K. Rowling’s first chapter from Uncle Vernon’s point of view is criticized heavily. Needless to say, I forgive rough beginnings for debut authors.

Also, at times the writing of the character movement and descriptions seemed stiff. Fortunately, he had just enough humor and tension for me to mostly ignore that, but for some, this stiffness might be an issue that pulls them from the story too often.

Book Details

Got Luck was written by Michael Darling and was published by Future House Publishing on March 16, 2016. It is 330 pages long. This is Michael Darling’s first novel.

The novel’s premise

Goethe (Got) Luck is private investigator about reach his 10,000th day of being alive and find out who he really is. He can use magic. He is the first to have strength in earth magic for hundreds of years. And it just turns out that the case he is working on just happens to more about him than he every would have realized.

Editing

Quality: Above Average

The published version is far more polished than the early version I read. I found less that two errors per 100 pages. In fact, I only noted four things.

She gently rolled up my pants leg (pant leg?)

Never apologize.”” (Two end quotes)

*** (More than one of the section breaks were not centered, though most were.)

Imagination and Uniqueness

The author’s imagination is definitely not lacking. Getting that imagination onto paper was mostly executed well. I already discussed the struggle with the beginning and some of the stiff descriptions and character movement. Despite that, the world was vividly depicted by the author. I never struggled with imagining the characters, the setting, or the action.

I wouldn’t be able to call it extremely unique. Jim Butcher starts off Harry Dresden as a Private Investigator and wizard. This is pretty similar, but not the same. Got doesn’t know who he is, he just knows that magic and weird stuff exists.

However, despite the lack of apparent uniqueness, the story held up quite well.

Characters

Goethe “Got” Luck is the unusual name of the main character. The feel of the writing suggests this guy is approaching forty, but we quickly learn her is only twenty-seven. Despite the inconsistency of the age in feel versus reality, Got was a very likable character. The hints of his past and his lack of heavy emotional reaction to weirdness were foreshadowing us to understand who he really is.

Erin is a drop dead gorgeous county coroner who doesn’t really give Goethe too much attention until they meet up in the Behindbeyond and are unexpectedly paired together. Her character is very deep and we only just start delving into it when the novel ends.

Got has a best friend, who is a stiff and easy to write one-dimensional filler character. He doesn’t talk or say much, yet seems to be a chick magnet. A conflict, perhaps. But he is in the novel little enough that it works.

The bad guy, I loved to hate. Which is all one can ask for, right? I’m not going to tell you who it is because that is revealed later in the novel and I wouldn’t want to give it away. His motivations are real-world, or real for the Behindbeyond, anyway.

Magic System (fantasy)

Magic

The magic system is heavily based on the Fae and the Behindbeyond. Humans don’t have magic, the fae do. The magic didn’t have anything unique. Normally I would bash the magic system for the lack of uniqueness. There were different powers for the different elements, but somehow, I despite its lack of uniqueness, I found little complaint in the magic system.

Perhaps the story of the magic system was unique enough. The author told the story of the first half-fae half-human born with earth power. And supposedly most with earth power die the first time they tap into the earth.

It also probably helped that we didn’t have a movie montage of him learning spells, though there definitely were some learning scenes, however, those all served the dual purpose of adding sexual tension, too, so they weren’t boring.

Stain

There was a second magical element to Got. I really liked that Got could see colors swirling around certain people. I really hated that it was called a “stain.” That word just didn’t fit, especially when the colors were beautiful. It seemed to me like “stain” would be a good name when a person’s colors were corrupted, but when not corrupted, there should have been a different name.

However, the name aside, it was a unique take on seeing someone’s aura. This wasn’t in the early copy of the book, the first time I read it, but was in the second copy and made the book much better.

eBook Quality

Quality: Average

There weren’t any problems with the eBook quality, which is good.

Parental Guide

Profanity: Zero F-words. There was very little profanity. I’d have to search the book to figure outSexuality: There is a fair amount of sexual tension. There is one description of a fae who was barely covered (mostly naked)Violence: The violence involves fighting and magic and demons. It is mostly gore-free, with some descriptive blood and frightening scenes.

The author toned down some extremes. I remember a scene in the early copy of this book where, the author described one of the Fae standing naked in all her womanly glory, without an ounce of shame. While that made a statement about the fae and had an edge to it, I might have said readers of this book had to be fifteen or older. However, in the published release, that scene was cleaned up by partially covering her up. It seems much cleaner than I remembered it. Any child twelve and up could read and enjoy this book.

About the Author

Michael Darling graduated from Weber State University with a degree in English Literature and loves to blend the classic with the contemporary in his writing.

He has worked as a butcher, a librarian, and a magician. Not all at the same time. He nests in the exquisitely beautiful Rocky Mountains with his equally breathtaking wife and six guinea pigs, one of whom thinks she’s a dog and three of whom claim to be children. Michael’s award-winning short fiction is frequently featured in anthologies. Got Luck is his first novel, which is scheduled for publication in March 2016.

Star Rating

I gave Celeste The Unseen 5 stars. Eleanor’s story continues to thrill in this second installment to the series.

From start to finish, this book passed the stay up late test. I started just before midnight thinking to read myself to sleep and had to force myself to stop reading at 4:00 AM and finish the following evening.

The meeting with Celeste held intrigue and Eleanor’s social situation made the book so real to life that I almost didn’t consider this book a sci-fi or fantasy, yet it is.

Book Details

Celeste The Unseen by Johnny Worthen is 376 pages. Jolly Fish Press published it on June 1, 2015. It is a young adult novel approved for ages 12 and up.

The novel’s premise

A girl of 16 is no longer a wallflower, no longer unseen, as she desperately hopes to be. What is being seen going to cost her?

Editing

Quality: High

When I read the first eBook (Eleanor the Unseen), I highlighted a dozen typos and formatting issues. I contacted the publisher due to the low quality. The publisher responded that they fixed them all with a post release update; which means we at Sci-fi Fantasy Readers contributed to the higher quality of the first eBook.

I expected the same in this eBook but it did not happen. I usually find just less than one typo per 100 pages from the biggest publishing houses. In 370+ pages, I found two, indicating this book was published with a higher quality that you would expect.

Imagination and Uniqueness

This 2nd book can’t be unique as it is a second book in the series, right? Wrong. Despite knowing what I was getting into after reading book 1, the story still felt fresh and new.

The character’s history, the social situations, the complexity of trying to remain unseen yet be forced into an unexpected popularity creates a unique juxtaposition that pulls the reader forward in the story without a desire to put the book down.

Having read a lot of good first books in a series, I don’t always follow-up with the series unless it is too compelling not to, as this book was.

Characters

Eleanor is now sixteen, and though wanting to stay ignored by her peers in a small town with a small K through 12 school, popularity hits her unexpectedly. Her attempts to hide in plain sight are thwarted and she must deal with impending fear of what will happen when she is seen.

David Venn is her boyfriend, and with Tabitha now passed, his mother steps in to provide guardianship. But the situation is precarious and cannot last. When will she suffer the consequences of failing to be unseen?

There were numerous side characters that were surprising flushed out without any boring info dumps on them. Every character had depth, something that is quite hard to accomplish with primarily one point of view character.

Magic System (fantasy) / Real Science (Science Fiction)

It is pretty much magical realism done well. One person is special in the entire novel. The world is 100% normal. The setting is a small town in Wyoming. The specialty follows scientific rules. Laws of matter and mass, and one could argue that this was just nature fiction not sci-fi or fantasy.

eBook Quality

Quality: High

I found zero eBook quality issue in this book. That is impressive.

Parental Guide

Profanity: There was very minor swearing. No extreme words.Sexuality: There is little more than teenage hormones.Violence: Their is a an abusive man. A violent scene in a trailer. final scene involves guns and a man is shot and killed.

About the Author

Johnny (Tie Dye) Worthen is also the author of Eleanor the Unseen and Beatresyl. He graduated with a B.A. in English, minor in Classics and a Master’s in American Studies from the University of Utah. His novels have a very realistic feel. He lives in Sandy, Utah and enjoys spending time with his boys.

Star Rating

I gave Eleanor The Unseen 5 stars. Eleanor’s story is superb. I could see this rising to be one of the books that captures many of readers.

The second half passed the stay up late test. It was so good I stayed up til 2:45 AM finishing the story. The first half was good, but I could put it down and go to sleep.

The renewing of a childhood friendship was done amazingly well. The progression of the story, Eleanor’s character arc, all enhanced the enjoyment of this novel for me.

Book Details

Eleanor The Unseen by Johnny Worthen is 360 pages. Jolly Fish Press published it on July 1, 2014. It is a young adult novel approved for ages 12 and up.

The novel’s premise

A girl of 15 wants to remain a wallflower to hide who and what she really is.

Editing

Quality: Average

I made almost a dozen editing highlights that will glaring typos. Also, the editors allowed a lot of weak sentences. Most weak sentences are easy to find as they are passive voice and slow down the reading. Added to the eBook isues and there were over twenty glaring issues with the novel.

Imagination and Uniqueness

I wouldn’t normally call a paranormal romance unique, but this book did not have the feel of other paranormal romance novels. I felt it was unique, but what was unique. It took me a while to realize the uniqueness was in the details. First, it wasn’t completely romance. It was part well-done cancer drama in Tabitha. It was part well-done high school girl-boy drama. It was part an introduction to small town life. It was part introduction to an Native American (Shoshone) folklore.

Characters

Eleanor is a girl of fifteen trying to stay ignored by her peers in a small town with a small K through 12 school. Why she chooses to hide in plain sight is a mystery.

Tabitha, Eleanor’s adopted mother, almost steals the show—er novel. She is a very well-written character. He story and her fight with cancer is almost worthy of her own novel.

David Venn is a good guy. A childhood friend who moved away and has moved back around the start of sophmore year.

Magic System (fantasy) / Real Science (Science Fiction)

It is pretty much magical realism done well. One person is special in the entire novel. The world is normal. The specialty followed scientific rules. Laws of matter and mass, and one could argue that this was natural fiction, not science fiction.

eBook Quality

Quality: Below Average

Update: The publisher notified me that the below formatting issue has been resolved.

The Kindle format had indents of a single space. It really distracted my reading. In fact, it was a distracting problem for me for the entire book. Indents should be a minimum of two spaces and three to five is recommended. It was especially difficult during dialog with quotes. This is an inexcusable mistake by the publisher.

Multiple times after hyphen, either a new line or a carriage return broke the sentence to the next line early.

The story deserves 5 stars but the eBook formatting didn’t. In fact, if the formatting is improved, I will gladly come back and edit rate this book 5 stars.

Parental Guide

Profanity: There was very minor swearing. No extreme words.Sexuality: There is little more than teenage hormones.Violence: Minor fighting. Knife wounds.

About the Author

Johnny (Tie Dye) Worthen is also the author of Beatresyl. He graduated with a B.A. in English, minor in Classics and a Master’s in American Studies from the University of Utah. His novels have a very realistic feel. He lives in Sandy, Utah and enjoys spending time with his boys.

In a different time and a place that has long since been forgotten, there was a Prince, there was a Princess, and There Was A DRAGON! Who flew high in the sky with wings so wide the each one could shade a large cottage. The dawning sun cracked over the mountains behind him. The mountains that held his cave. And Arkhas the dragon flew scouting for food and perhaps something to entertain him. He soared much further than usual, toward the marked lands. His dark red scaled were easy to see, except when flying, because his light blue underbelly blended with the sky, hiding him from foreign eyes.

He looked down on a line, a road really, that joined two kingdoms. To his surprise, he saw a pair of horses and decided they would make a fine…